Aberdeen, the Granite City

The Granite City of Aberdeen on the waterfront

Aberdeen, Scotland is a city of stone with many impressive castle-like buildings. It was once a fishing center and then the hub for North Sea oil operations. Now it is trying to recover from the drop in oil prices that has crippled the oil industry. Except for local fisherman, fishing too is a dead business. The European Union has enacted so many rules on the quantities of fish that are allowed to be taken that professional fisherman cannot make a living anymore at that trade.  Despite its economic problems, it’s a lively city with lots of great restaurants.

Amy, Ted, and Anne under the
stained glass at Musa, a church
converted to a restaurant

Another interesting thing about Aberdeen is that with church attendance way down, the churches have leased their buildings to restaurants, night clubs, and even an auto body shop!  Guess it is a way to make money on their real estate. We ate dinner in a converted church at a restaurant called Musa. Beautiful ambiance – we even sat in the balcony on pews in front of a stained glass window.

Dunnottar Castle

Dunnottar Castle and Stonehaven

On our first full day, we took a prearranged tour to Dunnottar Castle and Stonehaven. We had the best guide. Tom was a very personable local who kept us laughing and shared stories of his life. Tom took us to out-of-the-way places like an old battery with a great view out over Aberdeen Harbor, and a pretty spot by the sea near Old Cove.

Sculptor by the sea

A sculptor was working a piece of marble out in the open, and when Tom told him we were from the U.S., he stopped his carving to tell us about his sculpture. He was fascinating. So passionate about his work which will commemorate the former fishing industry.

Dunnottar Castle

As you can see, Dunnottar is a quintessential Scottish castle ruin. The views around it looked exactly like what you think of when you picture Scotland.  Dunottar has the usual bloody history including when William Wallace (Braveheart) burned out an entire British garrison stationed here. We hiked all around the area to enjoy the cliffs and ruins from every different angle.

Our favorite Scottish beer, Tennents!

Our lunch on this day was right on the harbor in a small fishing village called Stonehaven. We ate at “The Ship Inn” with a perfect view of the seaside. We also drank our first local beer called Tennents – very nice, and as we found out later, one of the few beers on tap that is always served cold – as we think beer should be!

Speyside Whiskey Tours

Fast working cooper puts hoops on barrel at
Speyside Cooperage

One of the best tours on this trip was our visit to the “Speyside Cooperage.” Yes, barrel-making for distilleries around the world. There are not many of these cooperages left that still make barrels by hand, but we watched the whole process from an overhead walkway, riveted by the views of men assembling new barrels and reworking old barrels for reuse. 

Two young interns learn the trade

One cooper down on the floor was so fast, he looked like he was literally running around a vertically standing 180-liter barrel banging hoops onto the outside of the oak staves. He was so quick, Frank called this guy the “human blur.” So impressive.  And this guy does it all day long, nonstop.  A shot of scotch whisky at the end of the tour helped calm our nerves from all the excitement.

Donald Trump's Scottish manse

Our guide for this tour was an old gent named Alistair. When he found out we were Americans, he added an extra stop to see Trump’s Scottish home and golf course outside of Aberdeen. Looking at this castle-like home, no wonder Melania is reluctant to move into the White House! We are avoiding political comment here, but it was interesting to see all the Trump merchandise available in the golf shop gift store: Ivanka perfume and two Trump cologne’s “Success” and “Empire!”

Varieties of Glenfiddich that we tasted

Glenfiddich Distillery

 We had our first Scotch tour and tasting at the Glenfiddich Distillery. Beautiful, impeccable facility and a fascinating process. We learned so much, Frank thinks he can make Scotch in his backyard now! 

Of course, the highlight of our visit was the tasting of this delightful single malt Scotch whiskey. 

Our group takes to the bottle!

Sparkling rapeseed in bloom!

A Few Points on Scotland

Tom, our tour guide on one of these days, showed us the fields of “Rapeseed” around the countryside.  Rapeseed is in bloom now and quite yellow in color, so very easy to spot.  The color really adorned the Scottish countryside. Tom told us that rapeseed is a very popular, easy-to-grow product here, and it is one of the best oils for cooking. It does not break down over high heat. And it does not smoke too much in the pan, helps quell any allergies, and is high in Omega 3’s.

Much to our surprise and chagrin, it snowed and sleeted this afternoon (only a little!) on our very first day here.  Obviously, we had not left the wintry weather back in our Pennsylvania Poconos.  The temps and conditions seem to swing a lot here – windy, cold, warmer, rainy, snowy, and then repeat.  And all these different conditions within a couple of hours!

Ferry to the Orkneys

On Saturday, three days after we arriving in Aberdeen, we caught the Northlink evening ferry, the MV Hrossey, from the harbor in Aberdeen to the city of Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands, a 6-hour ride across part of the bleak, windy, rainy, dismal-looking North Sea.  The seas here were a bit choppy, but we were very lucky because they get way worse than what we experienced.  We went to dinner in the mess hall, and Frank noted that every chair was tied down to the floor with a strong but flexible stainless-steel cable. No doubt to thwart the effects of any rough seas!